New NHS competition laws ‘set to be withdrawn’

The government is likely to be forced into revoking new regulations that will make it easier for private healthcare companies to compete with the NHS.

Laws published earlier this month banning unnecessary restrictions on allowing private and voluntary groups to compete to run taxpayer-funded healthcare services have been met significant opposition from medical groups, MPs and campaigners.

As such, government sources have informed the Telegraph that the outcry has prompted a rethink of the move, which is likely to result in the proposed regulations being withdrawn.

This latest controversy is indicative of the polarising nature of the NHS reforms the government is planning under the Health and Social Care Act, which critics have accused of paving the way for a privatisation of the UK's health service.

Though the legislation received Royal Assent in March 2012, it remains a point of significant contention and has caused divisions within the ruling Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition.

Defending the reforms when answering questions from MPs, health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "It is not our job to be a champion for the private sector or the NHS sector. We want to be there to do the best job for patients. That is the purpose of the regulations."